The Fourth of What??? July 1, 2011

I love the Fourth of July..can I have my treat now?

OK, I like many of you love the Fourth of July…what’s not to like really…picnics, parades, pool parties, popcicles….all the P words come out of the closet. There’s a parade Monday morning in my community….and lots of other things going on too. But I’ll stay pretty close to home…not trekking to the beach like many of you.

If you want to see a funny video, here’s one called Fourth of July for Math Nerds..pretty clever… this one will probably make you smile, it did me. Irreverant, yes, but hey…it’s the Fourth of July. Stay cool…and out of trouble….eat some watermelon…and come home safe..’cause we miss you!

More vacation envy…stop it!! August 5, 2009

 Thought I’d share with you some reader comments and questions….this from Nicole, regarding the post yesterday on the dreaded vacation envy, about a co-worker’s return from Provence…..
“My recent vacation (just got back last Tuesday) included a day in Beverly Hills… my best friend and I went to the Jose Eber Atelier salon for a beauty stop. (got my hair cut by Jose himself… ) Then a run to Sprinkles cupcakes. Then a stop at the Panini cafe in Beverly Hills. Finished by a window shopping walk along Rodeo Drive. On another day, I spent some time walking along the beach at Coronado, California, watching a pod of dolphins leaping offshore.”

Does cruelty know no bounds, Nicole? While you were waltzing off to Jose Eber, I was probably cleaning the cat litter. My only come back in that I too, have had my hair done by the glamorous Jose(does he still wear that hat?)….anyway glad you had fun, you dolphin-watching cupcake-eater.

From Paul: “Ah Provence! I was fortunate enough to spend a month and a half in Cheval-Blanc, just outside of Cavillon near Avignon while apprenticing with master-chef Alain Nicolet. It was wonderful! I boarded in a house in town and did everything the French do. I can’t wait to go back.”

“It was wonderful!” OK, that is just piling on….I can hear you making funny/lame American jokes with the master chef Alain….”alors, oh witty Americaine, your weet just ees jus delightfool….ha-ha-ha!”…and no doubt swilling the Cheval-Blanc. That is a fancy white wine, isn’t it? I hope you didn’t drop a pan of beef bourguignon oh his foot while you were there….

The finished result...looks good, oui?

And this from Elaine about my daughter’s cooking:
“Donna, How was the beef stew your daughter made? Would really like to hear if she used an actual pan this time. God bless her for making the attempt.”

Elaine, Elaine, Elaine…God bless her indeed, but if she knew you were calling her Julia Child beef bourguignon… beef stew….even though that is what it is, she would be incensed. Incensed, I tell you! Actually, it was very, very good…excellent really, and I am happy to report she did use a pan…proof in the photo above. The girl is learning. Though she was quite put out that no one had commented on her owl cake from a previous post, that she spent much time and effort on.

 

HOLIDAY HANGOVER…. December 29, 2008

I figure I’m not the only one suffering the holiday hangover….not really the alcohol kind(thought there’s no doubt plenty of that going around too)…the hangover around your house. I’d show you pictures of what I see here at home, but my LG camera phone has given up the ghost, a little over a year into ownership. Our honeymoon is so over.

But what you’d see if I did have pics,  is a Christmas tree still decorated, but not lit…I think the cats have knocked the plug out of the wall. And yes, there are needles on the floor. All the presents are gone, so sad that, but many of the boxes remain, some waiting for recycling(a long week away), and others wait to be taken downstairs where they will wait a year for their special recycling in the form of reuse. Neiman Marcus was offering free shipping and free wrapping this year….that is a siren song calling my name…so I’ll save the silver boxes and pretty red ribbons with a little ornament attached, and put something new in them next year. But it might not be from Neiman Marcus. The laundry has kinda backed up over the holidays…piles of that around. And the frig is stuffed with something…leftovers from holiday feasts past. A little pork roast, a little bowl of roasted peppers, what looks like a whole ham…didn’t eat much of that….small bits of all kinds of cheeses and olives. We really need a leftover night . And I feel, kind of…I don’t know…hungover may not be the right word, but it’s the best that I can do right now. A feeling like I forgot something important but I’m not sure what it is. Know what I mean?

And the last thing I feel like doing is going to the Verizon store to try and coax a new phone out of them. Even though they should give me one. But to  Verizon I will trek, because when I publish a blog without pictures, it looks a little naked somehow. (I know, you’re thinking…hey relax, your photography is not that great…) Tomorrow, when I hopefully have a new phone, I’ll show you my favorite xmas gifts….they’re pretty neat…peace out.

Ironing linens and making Lowell’s Sweet Potato Soup December 22, 2008

Ok, or is just me, or did 11 News reporter Lowell Melser hit one out of the park this past weekend on the weekend morning news with his sweet potato soup?? Great recipe, great delivery, made it all understandable and made me want to make it. If you ever get tired of news Lowell, the Food Network could use you! It looked so good, I’m heading to Trader Joes today, to get some sweet potatoes(maybe organic), and I think I’ll do leeks instead of onions, they add a little different flavor, and I have to remember to pick up a can of creamed corn. That’s a surprising ingredient….but I’m in. Grab of loaf of bread from TJ’s, a little salad with some candied pecans I made(yes I made, with pecans my Mother sent me from Alabama from a place called Priester’s…they have the best pecans, and she should know, I grew up surrounded by big pecan trees)…the recipe I saw on Martha Stewart, and it’s dead easy….my favorite.  Throw in a little blue cheese…and dinner is served.

napkins begging to be ironed....

I’m also doing some ironing…I know, there are people who consider me insane to iron when you don’t have to. But there’s a also something oddly calming aboout ironing, plus you get a stack of beautiful, smooth linen napkins to use at dinner. My dear late Mom-in-law Shirley gave me some really beautiful ones that are my favorites…about 24 inches square…BIG ones she found in an antique store, and in a set of 12. A rare find, she was told. And I think of her each time we use them…she was such a lovely, gracious woman. I still miss her.

Ah, but I need to be off shopping when here I am getting all nostalgic. I guess the holidays bring that out in all of us. Check you later!

It’s that crazy-making time of year…. December 18, 2008

I'm sorry about what this picture does to my nose...it's not that big.....

It’s starting…I’m beginning to have that tight, achy feeling in my back between my shoulder blades….I never get that until I start getting really stressed. Oh yeah, and there’s kind of a crazy look in my eyes…take today, for instance. I’m off after today through xmas week…which is a great thing, but today I need to write a story for air next week, I have recycling in my car that needs to taken to the recycling place, I’m starting to worry about gifts that have not been delivered(where are they and will they come next week?), today is the WBAL party here at the station, and I need to drop by there at lunchtime…which is good…you can schmooze and get lunch all at the same time….I have a ton of calls I need to make, including one to Cover Girl Cosmetics, to let them know a a story featuring them (about why many of us cannot, cannot resist a new product on the makeup aisle) will air tomorrow at five. Oh, and there’s a newscast to edit, makeup to put on, hair to do, and I’m having company over tomorrow night for dinner….what on earth am I serving…I really need to write out a little food plan, so I don’t miss anything. Except my sanity.

It’s time for deep breathing…deep belly yoga breathing. Or my back might do that funny thing it did last Christmas Eve….I was seriously flat on my back and could not move. My family had to cook dinner(they did a great shrimp and butternut risotto). And looking back on it, I’m pretty sure it was just plain old stress, that I totally put on myself, like Dr. John Sarno talks about.  I’m not gonna do that again….my mantra, which I keep repeating…is “things don’t to be perfect , things will NOT be perfect, and that’s ok”. My boss Michelle just stopped by desk, and told me how she actually bakes pecan pies for about 6 neighbors every year. Every freaking year! And she is freaking out because she doesn’t know when she’s gonna do them this year. Hmmmmm. I sense a theme here.

Maybe it just comes with the territory of the holidays that this pervasive sense of duty and tradition and obligation and perfectionism comes out in all of us. Or some of us, anyway. I just took a deep belly yoga breath. It was good. I’ll take another one later. Oh yeah, and even though I will be off….I will also be blogging through the holidays. I’ll just put it on the to-do list.

Happy birthday ‘merica!! July 4, 2008

I enjoyed the drive into work this afternoon…as much as I could anyway. Seriously, I’m not really bummed about working. After all, I could have asked for the day off, but I didn’t….so no complaining, right? It was your own choice, blah blah, but still.

Passed Druid Hill Park on the way in…saw several families setting up picnics and barbecues,and even more clustered on front porches…multi generations, celebrating a little family, a little barbecue, and a little Fourth of July. I heard the Declaration of Independence read out loud this morning….and you forget what an amazing document is. We should all hear it on this day..reminds us of what this country was founded on. The life, liberty and pursuit of happiness thing…yes?

So don’t feel too bad for me on the set tonight, the few of you who may be watching the news (yes I know you have other things to do…) and that’s as it should be. I’m good. And I’ll probably get some ‘cue at dinner. It’s all good, all good. Happy fourth everybody. Be nice this weekend, and come home safe.  And for those of you who didn’t get to a parade, here a little something something , from me.